Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 5/8/17



In a letter sent last Friday, ten members of Congress from the state of Georgia urged Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to rescind Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) regulations issued in the final days of the Obama administration.

Specifically, the legislators are taking aim at these three rules issued on Dec. 20, 2016:
• Interim final rule titled “Scope of Sections 202 (a) and (b) of the Packers and Stockyards Act
• Proposed rule, “Poultry Growth Ranking Systems” and 
• Proposed rule, “Unfair Practices and Undue Preferences in Violation of the Packers and Stockyards Act.

At the time, the agency said its Farmer Fair Practices Rules, "target the most harmful practices hurting farmers and clearly outlines common sense protections to restore fairness and reduce the burden for farmers seeking justice under the Packers and Stockyards Act."  

The revisions relate generally to packers’ use of “unfair, unjustly discriminatory or deceptive practices” and “undue or unreasonable preferences or advantages.” Specifically, the measures would deem such actions per se violations of federal law even if they didn’t harm competition or cause competitive injury, prerequisites for winning PSA cases.

The legislators said in their letter, however, that these rules were published in the Federal Register, “in spite of repeated signals from Congress that they exceeded the scope of the 2008 farm bill and strayed wildly from congressional intent.”

The Trump administration in February delayed the effective date of one rule by 60 days, and extended the comment period by 30 days for three proposed regulations.

While commending that move, the legislators added, “However, a pause is not sufficient. Once you have had the opportunity to review the comments associated with each of these rules, we hope you will withdraw the two proposed rules and rescind the interim final rule.”

Legislators signing the letter included:
• Austin Scott (R-Ga.)
• David Scott (D-Ga.)
• Doug Collins (R-Ga.)
• Rick Allen (R-Ga.)
• Earl L. 'Buddy’ Carter (R-Ga.)
• Drew Ferguson (R-Ga.)
• Tom Graves (R-Ga.)
• Jody Hice (R-Ga.)
• Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.)
• Rob Woodall (R-Ga.)

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